


Ash

by Talayse



Series: Fireside [3]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Marauders' Era, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 17:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12611548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talayse/pseuds/Talayse
Summary: Continued from "Embers"  which itself is continued from "Firelight".  In which Sirius's thoughts are run-on sentences, Remus ruminates on the smell of Padfoot and James interrupts.





	Ash

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted n LJ in 2011, just archiving stuff over here.

Sirius could not feel his legs.

He was nearly certain that when he'd fallen asleep he'd still had legs, so unless someone had hexed them off while he was asleep (unlikely, he thought he was likely to wake up if someone did that, legs were a bit significant. Now, if someone had hexed off his ears or his nose or a finger, he thought it was possible he might have slept through that but since he was a light sleeper and James's snoring always woke him he didn't think that someone removing a part of his person would fail to wake him) they must have gone numb. Which was a bit odd, since you could get your arm trapped under your stomach quite easily and spend an amusing and horrifying few minutes walking around the dorm while it refused to move and you made it flop around with your other arm until it started to tingle and then _burn_ in _agony_. Legs didn't usually have that problem, not while sleeping; sitting for hours in class was an entirely different story.

Also, there was something heavy on his chest.

Perhaps it was related to the numbness in his legs.

The heavy thing on his chest was snoring slightly. This was probably significant, since Sirius was relatively certain that his own chest could not snore and his vast experience with James's snoring had educated him quite thoroughly that snoring was related to the nose and mouth; the chest only supplied the ammunition.

It was dark in the room, and for long moments Sirius didn't know where he was or if he was even awake. Maybe he was dreaming and that was why he could not feel his legs; kind of like trying to run in a dream. Although, mind you, he had had dreams where he could run perfectly fine, usually those dreams started with running unlike the dreams where you needed to run and then couldn't because you were dreaming and your legs are sleeping and currently, numb.

Eventually shapes made themselves apparent, but Sirius still had no idea where he was. And there was hair up his nose. That was a bit rude, it didn't belong to him so it shouldn't be invading his nose.

Sirius moved his perfectly wonderfully working arm up and used a hand to smooth the hair down, and to his surprise, over a head. It's soft, straight hair, he can tell that much by feel alone, and it's shorter then his own.

Memory washes over him slowly: a restless Remus, the common room fireplace and reading. It's Remus who is making his legs numb and snoring softly while twitching occasionally. Remus, whose shaggy hair is making a spirited attempt to get to know Sirius's nose hairs intimately. That's all right then. 

The gloaming of morning is now lighting the room, and there is only ash left in the fireplace. Sirius stares at it for awhile, wondering if he could get Moony upstairs without waking him. 

Probably not, since Sirius still cannot feel his own legs. The pins and needles are going to be momentously agonizing once feeling returns. And he can't let Moony know, 'cause then he'll feel guilty and say 'sorry' a hundred million times and won't listen when Sirius swears he doesn't mind. He doesn't. Really. Moony can sleep on him anytime. Is in fact invited to.

Maybe there's a spell that'll wake his legs up and then he can carry Moony upstairs. The problem is that if there is a spell, he doesn't know it and he can't look one up because he can't move his legs. Why does life present him with such silly problems?

Well, he has arms, wonderful arms that move with very useful hands. Maybe he can shift Moony around and then rub some life back into his legs and then wobble his way upstairs.

Armed with a plan, Sirius shifted Moony so that his back is supported by the sofa back and his legs dangle over the edge, this freed up a large portion of Sirius's legs, which he started prodding with determination.

Eventually, feeling did return, and when he's confident that he can stand up without falling down, Sirius gathered Remus close in his duvet and carried him upstairs to the dorm they share with the other seventh year boys.

The curtains and bedding on Remus's bed are already drawn back so it's the work of a moment to lay him down carefully. He then moved to the foot of the bed and pulled off Moony's house slippers, smiling to himself at what an old man Moony is on the inside. He stood back and surveyed his work for a moment before he realized something was missing and moved back to the head of the bead.

Sirius unwrapped Remus from his duvet, then spread it over the one on Remus's bed, pulling the two duvets up under his friend's chin. Then, feeling like he was stealing something, he leaned over and pressed a light kiss to Moony's forehead.

"S'r'us," Remus murmured.

"Hmm?" Sirius asked as he patted down the duvets.

Remus freed one arm and sleepily reached to cup the back of Sirius's head. He pulled gently until Sirius was nose to nose with him, before giving Sirius a chaste kiss and murmuring, "Thank you," then he paused, still holding Sirius's head and said, "Can I have another blanket? I'm cold."

Sirius looked at the two duvets and the shivering boy underneath them.

"Padfoot, why's it cold?" Remus mumbled, taking a hold of Sirius's arm now and pulling it under his chin like a blanket. 

_Moon-mad Moony,_ Sirius thought, then transformed and huddled under the duvets with Remus, knowing that later there will be complaints of dog hair on the sheets. But for now, Remus curled towards him, buried his face in the soft fur and wrapped his arm around Padfoot's back.

~*~  
Remus woke, feeling warm and relaxed. His face was buried in something very soft and very fine, like hair. It is in fact, fur. Padfoot's fur. He inhaled deeply, some instinct in him finding comfort in the scent of the fluffy black fur. 

When Sirius is Padfoot he still smells like Sirius, he only ever smells of dog when he has gotten wet, or has sweat a lot. Otherwise, his fur smells like Sirius does at any given time. Not that Remus has spent a lot of time sniffing Sirius, but the first time he ended up with a face full of shaggy black fur he'd noticed the odd dog-less-ness smell. He assumed it was the same with Prongs and Wormtail, but he rarely had reason to be nose to fur with either of them, Sirius on the other hand was always rubbing his canine self all over everyone. And his human self for that matter.

Remus doesn't remember coming upstairs, which means Sirius most likely carried him. It is something he has become accustomed to, the weakness after the moon and his friends caring for him in absurd ways. He bows to it, grateful that they care even if they can be overenthusiastic at times, and knowing he could have just as easily been suffering through this on his own, friendless all these years. He shivered at the thought and burrowed further into the warmth of Padfoot's fur.

A wet nose and warm breath moved over the crown of Remus's head for a moment, then there is movement as Sirius changed and Remus found himself hugging Sirius's broad shoulders. " 'Lo Moony," Sirius said quietly, "You sleep all right in the end?"

"Yeah. Thank you." He shivered.

Sirius frowned, "You're still cold though."

"Can't be helped."

"Padfoot helped a bit, yeah?" Sirius asked.

Remus chuckled, "Padfoot is covered in thick fur, so yeah, that helps a bit."

"Then Padfoot I shall be," Sirius said and changed again.

Remus curled his hands over Padfoot's ears in a slow petting motion, "You don't have to." 

Padfoot gave his nose a quick lick and Remus chuckled, "Ew." Padfoot huffed and nudged Remus with his nose until Remus lay down again next to the bulk of the big black dog.

He lay there drowsing for quite some time in the furry warmth but was ultimately interrupted when James threw the curtains of his bed open and gazed myopically down at him. "Aha!"

"Aha?" questioned Remus sleepily, all of which startled Sirius awake, but he didn't change.

"I've been looking for you--- well, Padfoot. Time to be human!" James said cheerily.

Padfoot wrinkled his nose and huffed. Remus wiggled away to give Sirius room to change. The big dog huffed again and then Sirius was glaring at James.

"What? It's _Saturday_."

"I have had a Brilliant Idea," James said.

Remus immediately pulled the duvets over his head and shoved Sirius playfully towards James. "You know he'll only pine away if you don't go and plan whatever idiocy he's come up with."

"Where are your glasses?" Sirius asked, extracting himself from the cocoon that Remus was making.

"Exactly," James said. He poked Remus's cocoon, "You too, Moony."

"Bugger off," said the pile of blankets.

"In all truth," Sirius said, "I agree with Moony. But, glasses?"

"They grew legs this morning and walked away," James said, more excited than worried. "I'm sure they'll turn up later."

"As entertaining as that is, why did you wake me up?" Sirius asked. "It's _Saturday_."

"I did say: Brilliant Idea," James reiterated and jumped on the bed. He mostly landed on Remus, who grunted his discomfort.

Sirius shoved at James and said, "It's Saturday. Saturdays are for sleeping obscenely late, not for early morning ideas." 

"It's eleven o'clock," James answered.

"Prongs, that's still _early_ morning," Sirius said with all the conviction of someone who was seventeen years old.

James grabbed Sirius's arm and tried to pull him up, Sirius in turn tried to pull him down. They were nearly matched in strength and weight and their tug-of-war rocked the bed. Remus in his blanket cocoon was beginning to get motion sick. On the off chance it would work without a wand he directed a tickling charm at them. James immediately fell off the bed giggling and Sirius fell on Remus, giggling.

"Make it stop, make it stop!" James gasped, doubled over on the floor.

"What's the magic word?" Remus asked.

"Finite?" James suggested, still giggling.

"Finite incantatum?" Sirius added.

"Please," Peter suggested from across the room.

"Please!" James and Sirius yelled. Remus cast the counter spell and gradually the two boys stopped giggling.

"You and your Muggle-isms," Sirius said through the occasional giggle remnant. He tried to wiggle his way into Remus's cacoon.

"Oi! Padfoot, things to do," James insisted, thwarting Sirius's wiggle invasion by grabbing his ankle.

"Yeah, like sleeping. Come back and talk to me at noon," Sirius said from well inside the cocoon.

James took hold of the duvets and pulled. "Leave Moony be and come play with me!"

"That is the most disturbing thing you've ever said," said Sirius, wiggling around behind Remus, putting the werewolf between himself and the insane boy who claimed to be his best friend. "Look, I've got a loaded werewolf and I'm not afraid to use him," Sirius said.

"And _that_ is the most disturbing thing you've ever said," Remus said to Sirius.

"Look," Peter said from across the room, "Why don't you tell me your idea and make Sirius really jealous so he has to leave that nice, warm comfortable bed behind and help you?"

"Genius!" James shouted and bounced over to Peter's bed, landing on top of the other boy as he jumped onto the bed.

Sirius re-cocooned himself and Moony and sneakily cast a silencing spell so he can't hear a word James is saying. But he can hear Moony breathing softly, and see the gleam of his eyes, and that is more than all right.

"What?" Sirius asks  
.  
"I don't think you've ever chosen me over James before."

Sirius reached out to cup Remus's face, but drew his hand back as he realized what he was doing. 

"How do you know?" Remus asked suddenly, "I mean, what does feel like?"

Sirius knows what he's trying to ask and searched his face for a minute, then looked away. "It's a hot/cold, tingly, squirmy feeling. It's wonderful and awful at the same time." He then risked a peek through his eyelashes at Remus, who looked thoughtful in the dim light.

"A very noticeable feeling then?" Remus asked, carefully, "I wouldn't miss it, right?"

"It's like the first time you held your wand, only better," Sirius says, watching him now.

Remus ducked his head, "Oh. I've never . . .looked at anyone and . . . there must be something wrong with me."

Sirius does take Remus's face in his hands then, "There's nothing wrong with you Moony, you're just a late bloomer."

"I'm nearly seventeen. I think 'late' is beyond the pale, Padfoot, and fast reaching 'hopeless'."

Sirius huffed, "Nonsense. Maybe you think too much about it, _and_ everything else. You reign in your instinct too much."

"For good reason," Remus said quietly.

"Moony," said Sirius with exasperation, rubbing one of his thumbs over Remus's cheekbone.

They lay quietly in the warm dark until James realized that Peter's plan had not worked, and jumped on them again.


End file.
